So I mentioned on my post from the 23rd that I was surprised by the fees.
Let’s just say that the fees have been shocking this week. Christmas Eve morning, I managed to once again come to the end of the day up about $150. This time, though, it wasn’t just a measly $11, which I had thought was a huge fee already.
No, out of my $150ish green day, I got to keep a grand total of $43 of it.
😶
Holy. Freaking. Crap.
I had been feeling pretty good, but that massive fee put a pretty massive dent in my psyche for the day. I went from feeling pretty positive about having had a third green day in a row, to feeling completely demoralized.
Why on Earth exchange fees so huge?
It’s frustrating because I’ve found a pretty good strategy when trading Tesla stock. I’ve gotten to know that stock pretty well, and I have this little strategy that nets me a fairly decent return. The problem is that I since I’m just a beginner at trading, I might take over a hundred trades in a day in order to make my $150.
And trading Tesla, I’m buying $10 to $40,000 worth of Tesla stock at a time just to make a few bucks on each trade.
So the fees themselves are actually pretty small, but when you’re taking gazillions of trades, and each trade is quite a few dollars, then that tiny percentage fee adds up.
Boy does it ever.
It’s crappy because my little Tesla trading strategy is pretty successful.
So that was Christmas Eve morning, the market closing about noon.
So I was pretty bummed the rest of the day, and then it was my birthday, of course, so I wasn’t feeling like I wanted to go out to the family Christmas stuff just because of how awkward I feel going to other people’s parties when it’s my birthday.
Super awkward for me.
So I just stayed home and wasted time learning stock stuff and working and whatever else.
Christmas was pretty much a repeat of my birthday. I didn’t go anywhere, my mental health at a pretty good low.
Thursday I was back trading again, and if I thought the fees I had to pay on Tuesday were big, wow. Wow. On Thursday I was $255 in the green for my trading skills, mostly from my Tesla strategy, but of those $255, I got to keep a grand total of $102 of them.
😶
It’s just nutty.
But hey, that’s for green trading days in a row, so that’s something! 🎉
And then there was Today. Today was my best trading day of my third attempt at becoming a profitable day trader.
Trading wise, I was green 189ish dollars on the day , but the best part of it was that my take home from that total was $187. Only $2 in fees today. 🥳
So with 4 days of trading this week, my account is up almost $500, so that’s… Something. 🙂
I’ve had some bad luck and some good luck. I’ve had the internet freeze in the middle of trades multiple times. I’ve had issues with the platform. I’ve made mistakes that lost me money. I’ve made mistakes that made me money. 🙃
I haven’t done very well at keeping my emotions in check, nor have I done very well at following all the rules that I say that I’m going to follow.
But I’ve got five green trading days in a row, including all four days this week, so I’ll take it, despite the many, many, many mistakes.
If I can up my daily earnings to about $300, after fees, then I’ll be about ready to stop doing my just answer work as well.
Cross the fingers.
Lift the world.
~ stephen
Lift the World 